Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n
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A26064
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A discourse concerning a death-bed repentance by William Assheton ...
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Assheton, William, 1641-1711.
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1696
(1696)
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Wing A4032; ESTC R4704
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23,063
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76
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That the word Restitution in its Latitude denotes Two Things 1. The being reconciled to the Person whom we have offended 2. The giving him Satisfaction and Reparation for the Damage hath been done him To explain this further we are to observe That in Sins against the Second Table there is not only an Act of Disobedience towards God but also of affront and injury against our Brother And he who truly repents in both these Instances will cancel and undo and take away his Sin as far as possible Let us now examine how far both these can be done by a dying Person 1. The dying Sinner pretends to be reconciled to those whom he hath offended He declares He is very sorry for the envy and hatred the rancour and malice he hath been guilty of And assures his Neighbour he is now very real and desires that what is past may be forgiven and forgotten mutually on both sides He is heartily troubled that he hath ever done him any wrong and desires him to forgive him and withal assures him that he himself doth now forgive him and all the World as he expects to be forgiven for Christ's sake All this is plausible and seemingly pious But let me thus expostulate with this dying Sinner You say you are now sorry for the Wrongs and Injuries you have done to such and such Persons Let me ask you this short Question Are you now able to affront them any longer Is it in your power to do them further mischief Is not your Malice now bridled is not your Rancour limited and restrained For your Conviction pray resolve me You say you do now forgive But were you thus ready to forgive in the days of your Health and Vigour Did not you then on all occasions express your resentments to the utmost Did not you then gratify your Spleen and take the pleasure of Revenge when it lay in your power What reason is there now to believe you whilst you protest you do forgive him You say you forgive him because you do not hurt him You do not hurt him because you cannot Again You say you forgive him But what hypocrisy is this to pretend to forgive when you have had your Revenge already and that to the utmost at least as far as your own safety and respect to the Laws would permit you to take it I 'll explain this further to you in this following Case An insulting Mahometan confines his poor innocent Christian Slave in a noysome Dungeon where with bad Air and worse usage the poor Man's heart is broke And being told that he is dying he pretends to be merciful and gives order for his release But what a cheat is this to say he doth release him when he can keep him no longer God hath released him For in the Grave the weary be at rest There the prisoners rest together they hear not the voice of the oppressor Job 3.17 18. By the light of this Example you will easily understand the value and acceptance of a Death bed forgiveness And just at the same rate 2. The dying Sinner makes Reparation and Satisfaction He is convinced that he hath injured such a Man having wronged him in his Dealings to such a value And is now not only sorry for the injury but is also ready to make him satisfaction And is not this sufficient evidence of the sincerity of his Repentance Answer It is indeed very pleasing to God that those who have been wronged by you should receive satisfaction for the Wrongs you have done them And if this Reparation is not made by you in Person it must then be made by your Heirs in Reversion But withal you must be reminded that tho' what is paid and satisfied by your Heirs may in the sense of the Law be called your payment yet I much question whether in the sight of God it will be so accepted For to state the Case fairly You are now ready to part with your Estate and to distribute it in proportion to those you have wronged But pray who thanks you for this To bequeath your Estate when you can keep it no longer Thou fool this night thy soul shall be required of thee then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided Luke 12.20 that is they are then none of thine So that Satisfaction in Reversion is not thine but thy Heirs And he who thus makes Restitution he only pays his old Scores by drawing a Bill upon his Executors I have now distinctly examin'd what it is that a dying Sinner can be able to perform in order to Repentance As also what small hope there is that such kind of Repentance should be accepted by a pure and holy God A man may remember his Sins He may be sorry for his Sins He may confess his Sins He may beg Pardon for his Sins with firm Resolutions of Amendment nay He may make actual Restitution to those he hath wrong'd and yet may be rejected But you will say This is very harsh and uncomfortable Doctrine and we can scarce think that you your self will be so severe and ill-natur'd as to practise accordingly When you visit Sick-Beds and hear a poor Dying Creature to lament his Sins with Tears and most earnestly beg Pardon for the sake of Jesus Christ When you observe how passionately he resolves That if God will but spare him he 'll become a new man and never more be guilty of such extravagance What do you say or do in such a Case Nay what must such a wicked man do who having lived a vicious Life shall thus happen to be surprized by Death Dare you be so uncharitable as to pass the Decree upon him and say That he is past hope There 's no remedy but he is certainly damned Answer I dare not presume to limit the Holy One whose Mercies are Infinite In such a Case I will not censure but admonish and instruct I will exhort the dying Sinner to remember his Sins to bewail his Sins to beg Pardon for his Sins to make firm Resolutions of Amendment and where there is occasion to make Restitution And having prayed earnestly for him and commended him to God's Mercy Do I then say Such a one shall be damned No I dare not But do I say he shall be saved No I cannot What then do I resolve What do I determine in this matter I will be silent and determine nothing For as I dare not flatter him into a false and groundless Presumption so neither would I sink him into the horror of Despair I say I will determine nothing I will judge nothing before the time All that I can do in this dark intricate Case is to commend him to the Extraordinary Mercy of God to which we must leave some great Cases not knowing what to judge of them our selves Possibly God who will have mercy on whom he will have mercy may please to let this Dying Sinner be a signal Example of his Unlimited Power and Prerogative to
urged in favour of a Death-bed Repentance is The Thief upon the Cross YOU read his Story Luke 23. from Verse 39. Our Blessed Saviour being crucified between two Thieves One of them railed on him saying If thou be Christ save thy self and us As if he had said If thou art what thou pretendest to be a Christ a Saviour if thou art not a Cheat and Impostor save thy self and us But the other answering rebuked him saying Dost not thou fear God seeing thou art in the same Condemnation And we indeed justly that is we were justly condemned and we justly now suffer the Sentence of our Condemnation For we receive the due reward of our Deeds but this Man hath done nothing amiss that is he is an Innocent Person whom the Jews and Romans do thus barbarously Murther And he said unto Jesus Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom As if he had said Tho' these contemn and revile thee as mean and despicable yet I acknowledge thee to be a Great Lord and that thou hast a Kingdom to dispose on And Jesus said unto him Verily I say unto thee To day shalt thou be with me in paradise that is immediately after thy Death thou shalt go to a place of Happiness and there abide with me as a Member of that my Kingdom which thou ow askest for This is the Story of the Thief upon the Cross From whose Example Carnal Licentious Persons do thus encourage themselves in their extravagant Practices We are fully convinced of the necessity of Repentance And we do as fully resolve some time or other to Repent But why should we be so forward to disturb our Pleasures and neglect our Business as to do it now since we may Repent hereafter at better leisure And tho' we should be so far diverted as not to Repent till our Death yet we have here an encouraging Example we shall then be accepted This Thief had been very notorious and extravagant an Offender of the first Rate and yet when he calls for Mercy tho' it was with his last Breath his Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom was comfortably answered with a This day thou shalt be with me in paradise And therefore tho' the greatest part of our Lives like this Thief 's may have been spent in Sin and Vanity yet if we can but say Lord have mercy upon us with our last Breath we shall likewise be accepted To this I Answer 'T IS a dangerous thing to presume on God's Mercy And so provoking is such Presumption that if the bare saying of these words Lord have mercy upon me would save thy Soul it may so happen through the just Judgment of God thou mayst not be able to do it Thou mayst dye suddenly or thou mayst dye Stupid or raving-mad But suppose thou hast both Breath and the use of thy Reason to say these words here is very slender encouragement from the Example of this Thief that a dying Sinner who never repented till his Death shall then find Mercy For to prove the Validity of a Death-bed Repentance from the Example of this Thief Two things are supposed 1. That this Thief was a very wicked Man 2. That he continued in his Sin and did not repent till the time of his Death Now if neither of these Two can be proved then the Case of this Thief is not parallel nor a firm foundation for the Validity of a Death-bed Repentance 1. It doth not appear That this Thief was a very wicked Man He is called indeed a Thief and dies as a Malefactor But now a good Man and who is so in the general Course of his Life may by surprise and the violence of a Temptation be guilty of a very bad Action of which he afterwards doth sincerely Repent The very Case of David and Peter But further he is called indeed a Thief in our Translation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek Latro in the Latin But what these words do properly signify we must further examine It was the Character of Barabbas that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Robber So we Translate it John 18.40 But what kind of Person he was may be infer'd from other places of Scripture It is said of this Barabbas That for a certain sedition made in the city and for murther he was cast into prison Luke 23.19 And St. Mark tells us Chap. 15. Ver. ◠There was one named Barabbas which lay bound with them who had made insurrection with him that is at his Instigation and Procurement He was it 's probable the Ringleader and Captain of the Rebels The which conjecture is further confirm'd by the story of this Barabbas in St. Matth. 27.16 They that is the Jews had then a notable prisoner called Barabbas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sigfies an Eminent Person a Man of Note and Quality This Barabbas then was the Head of the Party Who as Zealots for their Nation and Religion had made a rising against the Romans in which attempt being unsuccessful they were punished as Malefactors And yet this Barabbas tho' the Captain-General of a Party is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Latro a Thief And in Confirmation of this I must further observe to you That the word Latro which is now a term of Ignominy and Reproach and is usually translated a Thief or a Robber did anciently signify no more as the best Authors inform us than a hired Souldier And Latrocinari pro Militare is noted Language in Plautus So that this penitent Thief as great a Malefactor as he is usually supposed was no worse for ought we know to the contrary than a Souldier who hapning to be on the wrong side was punished as a Malefactor But now supposing 2. That this Thief had been a very wicked Man which is more than was ever yet proved against him yet How do we know that he did not Repent even long before he died And if so if he had formerly repented then his Case is nothing to the purpose nor can his Example with any shew of reason be urged in favour of a Death-bed Repentance But supposing 3. That this Thief was 1. A very wicked Man not a Souldier as the word may be render'd but a Thief and a Robber in the strictest Sense And supposing 2. That he did not Repent till his Death Yet I shall shew ex abundanti that his Example ought not to be urged in favour of a Death-bed Repentance As will more fully appear by examining the Circumstances of this Thief 's Conversion 1. 'T is possible he never heard of Christ till his Crucifixion If he was a Gentile and not a Jew 't is highly probable he never did For Christ at first was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel And the Commission Go teach all Nations was not enlarged till the day of his Ascention If this was his Case How could he believe on him of